If you see someone as Strength or see someone as 9 of Wands - what's the difference?

The 9/Wands has a "close to the end" feeling about it. An idea of, as you say, stamina--which is as much energy as "strength"--or calling up hidden reserves to face down a final attack or assault. This is the last step; however tired or weary or at the-end-of-your-rope you are, you dredge up this last bit of fiery energy to succeed. If you see someone this way, then you see them as someone you can count on when the chips are down, when no one else will come to your rescue.

Strength, however, isn't about when you find your strength or under what circumstances you discover that stamina. Strength is about recognizing what your strengths are. In some decks the card is called "Power." And what the image of maiden and lion shows is that your strengths (your superpowers if you like) may be things like patience or gentleness as much as they could be roaring vitality. If you see someone this way, then you've met someone who really knows themselves. You can trust them when they say, "I can handle this," because they know their strengths. And they also know their weaknesses and how to mitigate those.

Putting it another way, I'd say that the 9/Wands, like most minors that echo a major, is a "subset" of Strength. There are other cards that can indicate being strong in a certain situation--like say 8/Cups and having the strength to walk away. Put them all together, and you get the Strength card, the Major that isn't about a moment in time or what kind of strength you need to succeed, but about all the different types of strengths you have in you and recognizing them. This is not an easy thing to do as society will sometimes label certain strengths as weaknesses and vice versa. We can't use what we don't recognize or what we mislabel or misunderstand. The Strength card assures us that we do recognize and are rightly labeling our strengths.

Two people in the same group, under the same circumstances. One sees me as Strength and the other sees me as the Nine of Wands. I find it difficult to see why one sees me as 'close to the end'.

Maybe because one sees me as knowing and recognising my Strengths and the other doesn't see my strengths as strengths but pointless perserverance. Something holding me back that needs to be broken down...

sometimes strength would be the strength to do nothing at all... to go with the flow.
Something holding us back and repressing us screams the devil card to me. In my opinion, the devil would be something that is broken by something such as the tower.

Or, on the flip side of this, the high priestess can also hold us back on such a high level, because she knows something we dont. Somewhere here on AT is a spread called harsh truths. that might be worth a look.

Two people in the same group, under the same circumstances. One sees me as Strength and the other sees me as the Nine of Wands. I find it difficult to see why one sees me as 'close to the end'.

Hmmm...the difference between these two cards? Maybe: One person sees you as having quiet confidence--courage enough to face any challenge, easily summoned at any time...but you don't have to prove it to anyone--it's just there in gentle internal fortitude (Strength.) The other sees you as someone who may have summoned up enough courage to face some opposition and win (and you have the battle scars to prove it, which are always evident in the way you carry yourself,) but that courage/confidence isn't seamlessly intrinsic in your nature. In fact, he may see you as someone who remains in a protective stance simply because you don't have pure enough confidence in yourself at the ready all the time to ever let your guard completely down.

It could be a matter of...I don't know...projection? degree? With Strength, this courage/confidence simply a part of your makeup that shines out from within (and that's how the first guy sees you.) With the Nine of Wands, it's available to you, but you feel you have to prove you have it and do so by the way you present yourself--always ready to defend yourself in some way (which is how the other guy sees you.)

........? Not really sure I've said what I think or if what I think has much validity anyway. But it's given me something to contemplate.

Two people in the same group, under the same circumstances. One sees me as Strength and the other sees me as the Nine of Wands. I find it difficult to see why one sees me as 'close to the end'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by starrystarrynight

Hmmm...the difference between these two cards? Maybe: One person sees you as having quiet confidence--courage enough to face any challenge, easily summoned at any time...but you don't have to prove it to anyone--it's just there in gentle internal fortitude (Strength.) The other sees you as someone who may have summoned up enough courage to face some opposition and win (and you have the battle scars to prove it, which are always evident in the way you carry yourself,) but that courage/confidence isn't seamlessly intrinsic in your nature. In fact, he may see you as someone who remains in a protective stance simply because you don't have pure enough confidence in yourself at the ready all the time to ever let your guard completely down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nisaba

Strength *has* all that stuff, the Nine Wands *needs* all that stuff.

What Starry and Nisaba said! Remember to keep in mind that when you pull cards indicating how people see you, that doesn't mean this is how you are. How we see other people often says more about us, our fears, our weaknesses, our prejudices, then it does about them and how they really are.

So if someone is seeing you as defensive, protective, the sort who will put up a show of strength if you feel attacked...maybe they're seeing you that way not because that's what you're like, or what you're radiating, but because they're that way. And they think you're that way, too. Or maybe they want you to be that way for whatever reason. Either way, the person who sees you as Strength is seeing more of you than the person who sees you as 9/Wands. They may both see you as a strong person, but the one who sees you as Strength sees you as always strong in various situations and in various ways. The one who sees you as 9/Wands sees you as strong only when under attack or on the defensive. They likely believe if you're relax and have your guard down, you won't be so strong.

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